Estes Park News

Rocky Mountain goat spotted on Old Fall River Road

This Rocky Mountain goat was spotted Thursday, July 11 below the Chapin Trailhead on Old Fall River Road by SisterAve Begina Gould, 92, of Brooklyn, N.Y. and Sister Maryanne Euring of Longisland, N.Y. (John Bruell)

The sight of a Rocky Mountain goat is rare in Rocky Mountain National Park. This animal was spotted last Thyrsday, July 11 when it walked off the hillside below the Chapin Trailhead on Old Fall River Road.

The animals, a non-native species, are not welcome visitors to the park and are encouraged to leave the area, and they are at times relocated if they persist is staying around. Mountain goats have the potential to transmit Johne's disease to native bighorn sheep and have the potential to otherwise adversely impact bighorn sheep and sensitive alpine tundra.

Article Comments

We reserve the right to remove any comment that violates our ground rules, is spammy, NSFW, defamatory, rude, reckless to the community, etc.

We expect everyone to be respectful of other commenters. It's fine to have differences of opinion, but there's no need to act like a jerk.

Use your own words (don't copy and paste from elsewhere), be honest and don't pretend to be someone (or something) you're not.

Our commenting section is self-policing, so if you see a comment that violates our ground rules, flag it (mouse over to the far right of the commenter's name until you see the flag symbol and click that), then we'll review it.